


Past Midnight

by redradioflyer



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Genderfluid Character, Little House on the Prairie - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Werewolves, but like, with gays and werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 02:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17072165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redradioflyer/pseuds/redradioflyer
Summary: Tammy, the darling genderfluid only child of Arthur Kirkland, is finally given the chance to deliver a monthly order out to the Jones Farm. Alfred F. Jones lives out there with only two hired help, never coming into town and stirring up all kinds of rumors. Tammy is delighted she might finally learn the truth behind the mysterious farmer's secretive ways.And Alfred indeed has secrets he's trying to keep- beyond the fact that his dear brother is 'married' to a man. Tammy changes her gender presentation day to day, but Alfred has some very particular changes of his own.





	1. Chapter 1

Tammy is getting to go out to the Jones ranch, and she’s just about as excited as she can be. There is all kind of rumors flying around about that place. Apparently a man had settled down there two years back, and he never came to town. Well, he’d come once, apparently, to set up a deal with her father’s general store, but she’d been out that day. She hadn’t even got a glimpse of the guy.

Her old pops- Mr. Arthur Kirkland- is a good man, god bless him, but he refused to tell her a single thing about Mr. Jones whatsoever.  Told her that if he lived way out there and didn’t want to even come to town for supplies, then he wanted privacy. Her father intended to respect that. For all most of the town knows, Mr. Jones was a crotchety unfriendly old man that didn’t ever want to leave home.

 For the last two years, they’d had a pretty good setup. The Jones ranch had a few cattle and chickens and sheep, and it appeared to be run by Mr. Jones. There are two other men that live on the ranch- a Samuel and Matthew Williams. Presumably brothers. No one really knew. Samuel is the only one that comes to town on the regular, and even then, his visits are sporadic.

Sam is a tall sleepy sort of man. He’s made of muscles, and he’s an incredibly imposing sort of person. He only comes into town with things to sell before going right back out to the ranch. He doesn’t even come in to pick up supplies. They’d made an arrangement to have sugar and candles and the like delivered out to the ranch on a monthly basis. Tammy talks to Samuel as much as she can when he comes by, but she never gets much out of him.

Which is why Tammy is finally getting to go out there.  

The stores usual delivery boy had just run off with a pretty little lady that lived in the north of town next to one of the bars. They are short help at the moment, and her father didn’t have time to find a replacement. So he’d begrudgingly consented to let Tammy be the one that went out there.

“At least go as Tommy,” Arthur pleads softly. “I don’t want them seeing you as a pretty girl to take advantage of.”

“Sorry Pops,” Tammy had said. “You know it doesn’t work that way.” She kisses his cheek and even though he’s not happy about it, he doesn’t fight. She really is lucky to have an understanding father.

Still, he presses a pistol into her hands and tells her to stay safe. He also tells her not to be nosy, but she’s not really listening to that part. She’s going to find out about this old Mr. Jones if it’s the last thing she does.

—

The ride out to the ranch seems far too long. Perhaps it’s the anticipation of finally seeing the place. The wait just means she’s a bit disappointed when it finally comes into view. It’s a perfectly normally ranch- two nice little houses, corrals, barns, chickens. The houses aren’t even frightening or old or run down or anything of the sort. She had been at least expecting to find a house that looks haunted.

Either way, she wasn’t going to learn much out here. She gets down to open the gate and ease the horse and cart on toward the front of the main house. After shutting the gate back she leads the horse on down to the front of the first house. She can hear people somewhere off in a barn shouting about holding a ram still- from the sounds of it, the poor thing was injured.

Good- if they were busy, she’d have a bit more time to poke around. She comes to the front door. After a brief short knock, she finds it unlocked, and she pokes her head in.  

“Hello?” she says softly- much too softly to be heard if anyone were even in the front room. She steps in and moves into the living room. She finds a simply furnished front room with chairs and a low table, a roll top desk to one side. There’s a bookshelf against the wall, and she approaches that first. There’s a picture frame on the top- a faded black and white print of a family set behind the glass. In the picture, a serious stern mother and a father with flowing blonde hair sit side by side with two small blonde children on their laps. Before she can pick the photo up for a closer examination, she hears floorboards creak.

Startled, she steps back, and she looks toward the door the opposite side of the room. The man standing there is so very handsome that her first instinct is to check her hair- her hands come up to smooth down her up-do. She’d braided her long brown hair- she tended to call it mud colored actually- and coiled the braid into a bun. Only her bangs are falling down around her face just a bit, and she pushes those behind her ears. Although she hopes that he doesn’t see how flustered his entrance makes her, he does grin like he notices her blush.  

“I don’t believe I know you, ma’am,” he says then. “What brings you into my living room?”

His voice is just as attractive as the rest of him. His blonde hair and face are a bit damp with sweat, and he has a glass of water in his hands. His eyes are the best part though- they’re big and expressive and a lovely shade of sky blue. He’s pretty much perfect.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she finally manages. “I’m from the Kirkland general store. Out here to deliver your monthly order.”

The man was friendly enough before, but she can see tension ease in his shoulders when she tells him why she’s here. It makes her smile a little that he made an effort to be friendly even though she had basically been intruding.

“Of course. I’ll come out and help you unload, Ms…?”

“Tammy,” she says. “Tammy Kirkland. And you’re…?”   
“Alfred F Jones,” he says back. “Nice to make your acquaintance, ma’am.”

With this she starts to smile and relax. She definitely needs to know more about this man.

—

 All morning, Alfred had been hard at work with the ranch. Then a ram had gotten a hold of a nail, and thankfully the dumb animal had gotten it stuck in his teeth, sharp end jammed into his gums. If he’d managed to swallow it, it probably would’ve killed him. Even though they are usually quite careful to be sure to keep nails and wire completely out of reach of the animals, it seems that they slipped up.

They’d have to deal with the cock up later though. First, they’d had to catch the poor beast, and it’d taken Alfred a few minutes to chase it down. Matthew and Sam are holding it down and pulling the nail free from its mouth. He’d taken himself a break to grab him a drink, but as he sips at his water, the sudden smell of perfume in the air confuses him.

Of course, he heard the cart outside, but he’d been in the middle of fixing his drink. The knock is rather soft, and the voice that follows it is even softer. Still, it’s the perfume that really stands out. It surprises him enough that he doesn’t immediately answer the person calling. Instead, he wipes his brow and goes out to investigate.   
This is not the scent of a person he recognizes, and he wants to get a look at them before they know where he is. He follows the scent into the living room to find a young woman looking at the picture of him and Matthew as kids. Although he’s not too happy about this stranger inviting herself in, Alfred can see she’s just a curious human woman- from town perhaps. If she were some sort of hunter, she’s already off to a bad start, and if she were a thief, she’d be checking to see if the candlesticks are really silver.

They aren’t. Alfred doesn’t keep anything silver in the house.

As they share their introductions, he’s admiring her. Even flustered, she has a pretty sort of face- though something about her expression tells Alfred she’s stubborn. She’s got a slightest bit of makeup on, making her cheeks rosy and her lips pink. Though her hair is tied up, it’s a rich pretty brown, and she’s perfumed it. Her red gown is rather nice, and it fits her well- she’s strong and lean.

 If he wasn’t so amused by how flustered she is, he might be flustered himself. It’s not often that he meets a little lady this lovely. Never actually- they don’t get much company of any kind on the ranch.

As she leads him out the front door to the cart, she’s quiet and focused on stealing glances of him. Although Alfred isn’t the most aware person in the world, he can feel her curiosity. Staying out in the middle of nowhere is more out of necessity than anything else, and he wonders just what the town folk must think of him if she’s this curious.

Finally she speaks. “Y’know I figured you’d be an old crotchety man…You’re quite the opposite. You’re a friendly and young. Attractive even~” Here she favors him with an alluring smile, making his ears turn red. “Why don’t you ever come into town to see us huh?”

“Crotchety old man???” Alfred asks, caught between embarrassed and amused. “I don’t know what Sam’s been spreading up there in town, but I’m nothing like that.”

“I can see that~” she says, her eyes moving down his body. “To be fair, Sammy doesn’t say anything about the ranch no matter how much I ask. Why don’t you come to town more often? It’d stop the rumors if nothin’ else.”

Alfred laughs and shakes his head. “Too busy to run off to town gadding. There’s only three of us out here and it takes us most of the day to get our chores done.” He hefts the sugar and flour to carry it into the kitchen. He smiles at her as he asks, “Could you grab the candles and carry them in for me?”

He doesn’t notice her cheeks turn pink, but she moves to grab supplies. She follows him through to the kitchen, and he’s well aware that she’s looking at everything she can. 

“Hire more help then,” Tammy tells him. “So you have a bit more free time.”

“I don’t have the money for that kind of thing,” he says back.

“Even though your little ranch seems so successful?”

“Yep,” he says back, even though it’s not true. They are quite successful for the most part- but in a small way. They tend the animals they have and sell the meat and wool for amenities, and Matthew and Sam kept a nice little garden so they are well stocked with vegetables. They try to be as self-sufficient as possible, and their ranch is run with that in mind- not really a ‘let’s expand for profit’ kind of venture.

Tammy doesn’t quite seem convinced, and she steps a bit closer to look up into his face. “I get the feeling, sir, that you’re hiding something.”

Alfred laughs- in a way he hopes doesn’t sound nervous- and he shakes his head. “Just a rancher Miss. I got a job and a focus on it… Now, why don’t you sit down and I’ll pour you a glass of tea? I’ll finish unloading the cart.”

“That’s technically my job,” she says, though she’s already taking the offer.

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” he says back. He gives her his most gallant smile as he pours her tea. As he passes her the glass though, she takes it in such a way that their hands touch, and she locks eyes with him.

“Thank you, darlin~” she says in a low, rather flirtatious tone.

Alfred turns rather red and stammers out a quiet, “Welcome ma’am,” before hurrying away to unload the rest.

— 

Tammy had rather been hoping that if she got a bit comfortable and friendly that Alfred wouldn’t shoo her off too soon. At first it works. When he comes back in after getting everything unloaded, he gives her the money for it all. After the business is taken care of though, he sits to talk with her while she finishes her tea. The man seems rather starved for a bit of friendly conversation. It’s all about the town at first- how are things, any news, ect. The idea that such a friendly open man would willingly become a hermit is bizarre to her, and she knows there’s got to be more to this story.

She intends to root it out.

“So Ms. Kirkland,” Alfred asks- changing the subject to something more personal. “You work at your father’s store then?”

“I usually help run the till. I also teach some of the local children how to sew and make clothes, and the like. Sometimes I make clothes to sell in the store too when I feel like it.”

“A crafter then, nice. How’s your father doing then? I send my regards with his carriers, but I haven’t seen him for a long while now.”

“Doing well enough,” she says back. “How old are you, Mr. Jones? You do seem really quite young.”

“25 years old actually,” he replies. “Does my age still surprise you?”

“It does. For such a young man as yourself to live out here secluded. Do you at least have a wife to keep you warm at night?” This is a very important bit of information for her, and she has the satisfaction of seeing him blush again.

“I don’t,” he says. “But I’ve never been married, so I can’t miss something too bad when I never had it.”

Tammy leans forward toward him and tilts her head. “Is that so? I haven’t married either, and I think there’s some pleasures I’m certainly missing~”

Alfred is very red now, and he leans back away from her.

“Is that so, Miss?” he replies, a tad stiffly. “Well, everyone’s different, I suppose.”

A prude, then, she thinks. A rather adorable thing in a man these days.

“You wouldn’t want to always be alone?”

“I’m not alone! I have Sam and Mattie. We make for a pretty good team I think. And we got plenty of animals.”

Admittedly the mental image of golden boy talking or playing with the animals is pretty cute, but it’s not the same. “Livestock and animals you need for work. Hardly fun.” 

“I have a pet!” he argues, but then the door comes open.   
Samuel enters with another man, and they both scoff at Alfred.

“Sitting in here talking with company while we’re out working,” the second man says.

Alfred jumps to his feet, expression guilty. “Sorry, Matthew, our delivery from town came. I’ll get back out in a minute.”

Tammy stays in her seat and she waves at Samuel. “Howdy Sammy~ It’s been too long. Lovely to see you again~”   
“And you, of course,” Sam says, but he looks a bit irritated. He usually does- he’s told her more than once that he doesn’t like the name ‘Sammy.’

At least, Matthew seems amused. “Sammy huh? A friend of yours?”

Finally she stands and moves to shake Matthew’s hand. “Tammy Kirkland. I’m usually in the shop when he comes to bargain. Alfred called you Matthew? Sammy’s baby brother?” It’s strange- that’s what everyone said about Sam and Matthew, and they share a last name… but honestly Matthew and Alfred look more much like brothers.

 “Yes, that’s me. Matthew Williams. Sorry to steal your company, but we really got to get back to it.”

“Oh of course, I understand. How’d you come to work for Mr. Jones? You from the area?”

But Sam shakes his head. “No time for chatting,” he says. “I’ll escort you out. Matthew has business with Alfred, at the moment.”

This is probably one of the longest sentences she’s ever gotten from Sam, and she’s ready to walk out with him before they’re interrupted.

“Let me see her out at least. I wouldn’t want to be rude.” Alfred says, giving Sam a smile. “It’s alright.”

He offers Tammy his arm and walks her out to the door. She smiles as she takes it, getting a good feel of his muscles while she’s at it. As he helps her up into her cart, her horse gets restless and nervous. She reaches forward to pat her rump. “C’mon girl, shhh calm down.”

“Sorry,” Alfred says as he takes a step back. “Horses tend to spook around me.”   
“That’s gotta be a difficult position to be in, in your line of work.”

“Not too bad most of the time,” he says, but he walks alongside the cart. Tammy admires him as they go, and he unhooks the gate for her. “Thank you for your time, Miss Kirkland.”

“You’re welcome. I do hope I’ll see you again~”

His cheeks turn pink, and he smiles. “Maybe you’ll be by again next month,” he replies, making it quite clear he wasn’t suddenly going to start coming into town because she urged him too.

That’s alright. She’d just have to come to him.

—

When Alfred comes back into the kitchen, Samuel and Matthew both look a bit concerned. They’re holding hands- they do a lot honestly. Usually it makes Alfred happy to see that his brother had found himself a nice partner who understands him and adores him before they decided to exile themselves.

Perhaps that’s why Matthew has a guilty expression on his face as he takes a breath.

“Alfred, Sam says that girl’s really nosy. We might not want to get too close to her.”

“She seems nice enough…” Alfred grouches as he sits down. “Besides, I was just excited to see a new face, no big deal. I’m not gonna let it spill that you two are actually partners or anything.”

Matthew lets out a low breath. As hard as Alfred knows it is for Matthew and Sam- hiding who they were on top of their other problems- he’s still jealous. Not even that he wants a lover. A friend would be just as good. He used to have many, and now he doesn’t. Or at least, he can’t.

“Our other secrets are more important…I know this has been hard on you,” Matthew says. “I also know you’ve been changing forms to go to town and watch people.”

Alfred turns red and looks down at his hands. “I’ve only done it, like, twice Mattie.”

“I know Alfred, I know. I completely understand. I have the sickness too. But we don’t really want to risk it do we?”

Logically, Alfred knows that he doesn’t, but his heart wants something different. They had fled from their childhood home when they’d first ‘gotten sick.’ Alfred hates putting it that way, but it’s better than dwelling overly long on the terror of that night. People didn’t look for them for too long- figured to be dead with the amount of damage done to their house. It’s better that way perhaps.

Then they’d fled other homes for different reasons- accidents on the full moon or someone getting a little too close to finding their secret. It’s better for them to stay secluded and he knows it. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone on accident, and he also doesn’t want hunters showing up on his door to ‘cleanse’ him either. Alfred and Matthew- they aren’t evil or cursed or wicked. They’re sick, and they try to deal with that the best they can.

“Of course, I don’t want to risk it…” Alfred says back. “But being friendly might be nice sometimes ya know?”

“I know,” Matthew says, and he stands to come around the table to give his brother a hug. “I agree. But I also don’t want anybody in town to shoot you thinking you’re after their food. Or have to pick up and leave again because a curious girl finds out a bit too much…”

Alfred hugs his brother back and he buries his face against his shoulder. “Sorry. I’ll be careful next time the post or the carriers come by.”

“It’s alright. Be friendly, Alfred. Just be careful of what you say.”

Alfred nods, but they’re soon interrupted. A tap-tap-tap on glass. Alfred pulls back from Matthew to look out at the large jet black bird perched outside on the sill. It watches him, letting out a loud caw and shifting impatiently.

“Abbie!” Alfred looks into his brother’s face, turning on his best pleading expression.

Probably because he feels bad about scolding him, Matthew just sighs and nods. “Go play for a bit. Sam and I will get the rest of the work done.” As Alfred cheers and pulls away, Matthew adds, “And you have to make dinner!”

But Alfred doesn’t care about that. He’s already wiggling out of his shirt and sliding his pants off. He shifts as he goes, body starting to morph down as fur starts to cover his skin. His nose lengthens out and soon there’s just a pile of clothes behind a rather large wolf. He shakes his head and pants softly. This is the only part of having his sickness that Alfred likes. Being a wolf is actually rather fun- the world looks and smells differently, and he can run so fast. He tests his legs, adjusting to suddenly being on all fours, and he heads for the door.

—

Matthew had looked himself and Alfred up trying to figure out what they were. Normally, they could both transform at will into a very large but relatively normal variety of gray wolf or timber wolf. Though the phases of the moon affect how easily they can change form and how long, the change itself was easy enough until the full moon. On the full moon, they  **had** to change form- no matter how much they fought it- but they didn’t transform into a wolf per se. During those times, they were a rather powerful human wolf hybrid with very little intelligence or self awareness but strong instincts to hunt and run and eat. This is also the only night of the month that their sickness is contagious.

Neither of them likes the full moon for the obvious reasons.

The normal changing is pretty fun though, and Alfred had found early on that ravens are especially fun to play with. This particular raven at the window, named Abigail, has been with Alfred for 8 years at least. She’d stayed with him of her own choice, and Matthew is glad for it.  She makes things a bit easier for Alfred to deal with.

Sadly, she doesn’t make him any smarter. Alfred had transformed before he’d opened the door, and he’s forgotten than paws are more difficult to use than hands. He stands on his hind legs to try and open it with his mouth, but Matthew stops him. 

“Don’t get slobber all over that door handle! Were you raised in a barn?”

Alfred moves back down to all fours and looks up at him, whimpering in a pitiful puppy way. He prances eagerly from foot to foot, ears flattening against his head, and  _whines_  to be let out. Rolling his eyes, Matthew comes over to open the door for him, and he watches his brother race into the yard. Abigail flies after him, her claws snatching at his tail as they begin to play. It actually makes Matthew smile a little.

Even a disease like this could have its nice points.

“We should install a dog door for him,” Sam murmurs as he comes up behind Matthew. He wraps his arms around him and hugs close to him from behind.

“I’m hoping some day he’ll actually learn to open the door before transforming,” Matthew says back. He leans into Sam’s arms and hums.

“With ten years of curse behind him,” Sam replies. “You might be hoping for too much.”

Matthew laughs and smiles. “Maybe so. Let’s get back to work huh? Since he’s off being a puppy, we’ll have to work double time to get finished today.”

Samuel nods and kisses his neck one more time before he pulls away so they can get back to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Snow is falling as Samuel walks through the woods. Red splashed against the blanket of white draws his attention, and he can see drips of it here and there. He strains his neck, trying to determine if he can assist some poor animal. He finds the spot the trap was hidden in the snow and underbrush. There’s clear signs of something pulling up a staked trap, and he follows the drag marks through the trees toward a bush.

When he pulls a branch back, he sees only a blur of something as he leaps onto him, slashing and biting at his chest. Samuel falls back as the animal attacks, and for a second there’s a rather wild struggle. It’s attacking with clear intent to wound, but he realizes quickly it’s a wolf- normally such an animal would go for his neck but this one isn’t. Though it’s doing as much damage to his chest and shoulders as it can, it’s not going in for the kill.

Samuel wrestles in the snow with the animal, trying to fend it off from doing real damage. After several moments slashing and clawing, it makes a pained noise and stumbles away into the snow, back leg hopeless trapped in a (thankfully) toothless trap.

Oddest thing, though, is that its skin is smoking where it touches the trap, and the captured animal is no longer bleeding from where the trap clamped down. In fact, the wound seems to be cauterized, and Sam takes a breath. His shirt is in tatters, and his chest is covered in claw and teeth marks. Though some are deeper than others, none of them are particularly urgent, and Samuel can’t stand seeing an animal in pain.

If his leg was stuck in a trap, he’d probably be pretty defensive and scared too.

“Shhhh,” he says, getting low and slowly starting to move forward. “Let me get you out of there yeah?”

Wolves don’t understand words, but this one seems to understand his tone well enough that it stops struggling. It has fallen on its side, and though it scoots just a bit away from Samuel and flattens its ears, it appears ready to let him get close. Samuel is only 19 years old, but he has plenty of experience with how traps work. He gets it open pretty quickly and pulls the animal’s leg free.  The wolf attempts to stand, but it can’t quite manage. It has no more adrenaline fueled desperation to get him going, and the strange burn on its leg is still smoking. 

“Come on,” Samuel says, stroking the animals fur. “Gotta get up before the hunters find you." 

The animal whines, but it’s next attempt ends in a rather rough fall into the snow. The wolf looks at him with wide intelligent blue eyes, and then it begins to change. Fur disappears, and paws become fingers, nose getting smaller and pinker. Samuel can barely believe his eyes except there’s a naked man- probably near his age- lying there in front of him, a burn mark around his leg still smoking. 

"Help me,” the other says, grabbing at Sam’s hand. “Help me please…!”

 —

Samuel brings the man back to his small cabin and patches him up. Perhaps this is a bad idea on his part, because anybody else would be too scared of dark magic to help. Though the thought had crossed his mind that he might end up cursed or maimed, Samuel is too kind to leave an injured naked person out in the snow to die.

If the man truly is a cursed monster, he definitely has a good disguise. He has a lovely face with soft skin and large expressive eyes framed with wavy blond hair. Samuel would definitely choose this man for a model if he were going to draw an angel.

Neither of them speak to each other as they head toward Samuel’s cabin. No wonder- the man is only barely conscious for most of it. When they do get safely home, the man quietly thanks him, but he’s so close to passing out that it’s hard to hear. Sam gently presses him down against the couch and tells him to sleep. It doesn’t take much urging for him to listen. While he sleeps, Sam manages to get a shirt and a pair of shorts on him. He also treats and bandages the strange wound on the poor man’s leg. It’s no longer smoking or hot, but it is quite burned.

This is the only time the man really reacts to him is when he’s treating the wound. His angelic face scrunches up in pain, and he squirms away from his hands. Sam tries to be gentle, but he knows the salve stings. Once he’s done, he puts a blanket over the man and goes to bandage his own wounds. Mostly they’ve stopped bleeding- many of the scratches not so deep- but when he pulls away the torn shirt it reopens some of the deeper ones.

As he treats his own injuries, he winces and frowns. Some of these are going to scar. Well, if he lives long enough for that. Animal bites and claw marks can make you quite sick, and the man in the other room is clearly not a normal sort of creature. Bringing the man home at least has the benefit of being able to find out what sort of consequences these wounds have. He runs his fingers over the bandages and frowns at himself in the mirror before moving on to make himself and his guest some food.

Sam is not quite sure what a man like the one sleeping on his couch would even eat, so he decides to make a late sort of breakfast. Sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes. Meat and hardy stuff for the wolfman seems like the best bet. As he’s cooking the potatoes, the man knocks softly on the wall as he enters the room, and he keeps his distance. Perhaps he’s trying not to be threatening, and Sam can appreciate that.

“I’m sorry,” is the first quiet words he says. “I didn’t mean to attack you. Emotions are hard in that state, and I was afraid you were a hunter come to kill me.”

“It’s alright,” Sam says, not turning around yet. “I understand.”

The man hesitates, unsure what to add. “I… well, thank you. Most people wouldn’t have helped me.”

Gratitude makes Samuel gruff, and he only nods before asking, “What’s your name?”

He turns now to look at the man in the doorway, and he sees surprise in his face. Then for the first time, his guest doesn’t look tired or upset or confused- he actually smiles and begins to laugh. Sam’s heart leaps into his throat at how lovely this stranger is- smiling and laughing and wearing Sam’s clothes.

“What??” Sam says, feeling defensive. His cheeks are warm and turning rather red. “Names seem like a good place to start…”

The man shakes his head. “I’m not teasing you. Just… I expected you to instantly be asking about the wolf stuff or the wounds or if I have diseases… instead you just want to know my name. It’s sweet.”

When Sam gets even redder, the man smiles and takes a step toward him.

“It’s a nice change of pace, is all. My name is Matthew. Matthew Jones. Nice to meet you.”

Matthew offers his hand, and Sam shakes it, cheeks starting to cool down to their natural shade.

“Sam Williams,” he replies. “Nice to meet you too.”

—

Matthew sits with his rescuer and has breakfast. He’s actual rather startled by how utterly calmly Sam is taking all this- oh, he can see how unnerved and concerned the man is. Though he’s a relatively calm person, there’s still an expression in his eyes- hints of doubts and worries. Overall, though, he’s remarkably composed, and Matthew appreciates it.

 Matthew wants to soothe his concerns about the whole thing though, and he takes the lead.

Once he’s started eating, he opens with, “You won’t catch my sickness. I have no diseases I’m aware of.”

With a nod, Sam lightly touches his chest, rubbing above the bandages gently. “Are you alright?” he asks after a moment. “You were burned badly.”

“Yes,” Matthew says, though of course the burn still aches and it itches beneath the bandage. “I’m allergic to silver. The hunters, they’ve been putting out silver traps for us…”

Sam’s eyes go a bit round, a mix of uneasiness and curiosity. “Us… there’s more of you.”

“Just me and my brother,” Matthew is quick to assure him. “In fact I wouldn’t be surprise if he tracks us down soon. Some hunters for… our variety of wolf are hot on our trail just now.”

“You need to tell me what sort of wolf you are…” he says in reply. “Because you look plenty human now. What are you?”

“I wasn’t born like this. I became this way,” Matthew shifts uncomfortably. “It’s a long sad story…”

“I want to what you are and how you got that way,” he says. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve left you in the snow.”

Though he figures that’s true, Matthew is uncertain. Telling this man could be divulging too much personal information…

But he’s also young- only 17- and no one other has ever asked for him to explain things before. His brother knows but neither of them have trusted anyone with their secrets. He’s eager for a sympathetic ear and more of this stranger’s kindness. So he decides to trust this man who saved him. 

Matthew sets his fork down and begins to describe for Sam exactly what happened.

> _The night was a warm one, and our parents had went out for the night. My brother Alfred and I were left at home because we were fifteen, plenty old enough to care for ourselves. At some point after the moon had come out- a big full moon- we heard someone enter the house. My brother and I hid up on the top shelf of our closet. We figured it had to be a robber and why would they steal from our closet? Nothing of value was hidden there._
> 
> _But the thing that came into our room wasn’t looking for money or goods to pawn. It was a giant wolf man- ferocious teeth, strange warped half animal face, and a tall and powerful body of a man. It could smell us and it ripped open the door. It grabbed at my brother, but we’d climbed up and pressed ourselves against the wall. The creature wasn’t smart at all and it slashed and clawed wildly. Alfred was in front of me, trying to keep me safe, and it was slashing open his legs while my brother kicked at it. I was so scared and Alfred was screaming at it and it was howling in rage and frustration that we’re out of reach._
> 
> _Then its hand closed on Alfred’s ankle, and he starts to drag him off of the shelf. I couldn’t let that happen, so I moved forward to struggle with it. The wolfman wasn’t smart, and it dropped Alfred to start clawing at me instead Then it grabbed me by the arm and starting dragging me down. As I was about to tumble out on top of the man, my father came into the room and fired two shots into the monster. It fell for a moment, clutching at its injuries. My mother raced to us to help us down, and she hurried us from the room. The distraction was a bad one though._
> 
> _Our father was concerned about the blood on us, trying to check on us, and while he did, the monster had gotten up and started to prepare for the next assault. Alfred shouted, “Dad it’s coming!” and that was the only reason we didn’t see our father’s throat ripped out. He turned and tried to fire again, but the animal was too close. They struggled with each other, and my mother got us out of the house first. She stood at the door, telling us to run and run and not to stop running. We lived on the outskirts of town, next deep woods, and we could still hear our father screaming and the monster howling as they fought in our room. But where we were, there was little help to be gotten. She told us to run toward town, and we listened. She went back to help our father, and that was the last we saw of either of them._

 Only after he’d gotten to the last moment he saw his mother does Matthew stop. He’s panting and upset, trembling at finally having said all this out loud to someone else. For a few moments, he can’t even look into the other man’s face, because who’d believe a story like that? When he finally does look, Sam’s expression makes his breath catch.

Not only does Sam believe him, there’s sympathy and a deep sadness in the other man’s eyes. Though Sam looks barely older than Matthew himself, he has certainly experienced as much sorrow as Matthew has. Instead of rejecting what was said, the other man empathizes deeply and seems as though he wants too soothe Matthew’s hurt feelings. 

“Then what happened? Do you know if your parents lived?”

Matthew takes a sip from his glass of water before answering. “I don’t know what happened- but all the news after was about the brutality of the scene. They thought we were killed by animals, my brother and I, so they didn’t look for us for long.”

Sam seems confused by this. “And why didn’t you go forward, reveal yourself?”

“Well this, this is the hard part,” Matthew says. “If one of those with the sickness, like I have now, bites or scratches you on the full moon when they’re monstrous like that… you get it too.”

“I was thinking that was the idea,” Sam says, smiling in a tight,, unhappy way. “There are stories of creatures like that. I don’t understand why that stopped you though.”

“Because we can transform into wolves- so long as the moon is still in its fuller phases, we can shift between wolf and man even during the day. Problem is… at first we couldn’t control it. For the first week actually, we were wolves more than we were human. We kept shifting between the two as our body was— well we say it was our body being infected with the virus, but we’re not sure why. It was, well, understandably terrifying.”

With this, Sam does something that Matthew doesn’t expect. He reaches over and takes his hand.  “It sounds hard.”

“It was,” Matthew says, holding his hand gently. “Then it started getting on toward the new moon phase, and we started getting a better handle on it. The moon wasn’t dragging out that wolf side so powerfully, and we were finally a bit more aware of ourselves. We snuck into town to find… no good news about our family. Still afraid that we might suddenly be wolves again we stole supplies and fled to a new town.”

“You’ve gotten a better handle on it now right?”

“Yeah, we can control it now. That was two years ago- we only have to change on the full moon.”

Sam’s eyebrow’s furrow and Matthew catches himself admiring the older man’s face. Then he speaks and Matthew snaps back to reality.

“And you turn into a wolfman monster.”

Matthew frowns and pulls his hand away from Sam’s. “Yeah, that’s… that’s what happens. My brother and I, we lock ourselves in basements. Chain ourselves down. Whatever we have to on the night of the full moon. But we’ve had… accidents.”

Thankfully, Sam understands well enough that he doesn’t ask about these accidents, and so he changes track a bit. “You mentioned… hunters?”

“Yes, there are people that think our sickness is grounds for summary execution,” Matthew replies. “They track signs, unusual wolf sightings, the like. My brother and I have been seen in wolf form near the town a few times in the past couple of months. Hunters have been looking for us. We didn’t realize they were so close or we would’ve left or hid out or…”

“How’d you get in the trap?”

“I was hunting in the woods. I hunt as a wolf sometimes- gross at it sounds to tear into an animal like that, I have instincts in that form. My brother and I have never learned to hunt so…” Matthew shrugs. “We rely on animal instincts when we need food.”

Even after all these admissions- the hunters, the ‘accidents’, the hunting as an animal, the monstrous transformation- Sam still hasn’t reacted with disgust or hatred. All Matthew sees in this person’s face is empathy. This man has listened to everything that Matthew is, everything that his life had become, and instead of being scared or hurrying him off to avoid danger, Sam is offering him support.

Before he can say more, there’s a sudden frantic scratching at the door and they’ve both only had time to stand when it swings open. A large wolf hurries into the room, hackles raised and looking ready for a fight. Matthew puts himself between the wolf and Sam, making large placating gestures with his hands.

“Shhh shhh no Alfred, this is Sam. Sam helped me okay, he helped. You need to turn human for me yeah?”

The wolf’s eyes narrow and he is still seemingly unconvinced.For a moment, there’s a tense standoff. Finally the wolf settles down a bit and then grows, changes, morphing into a man. Matthew isn’t phased by his brother’s nakedness- having seen it more than enough with such transformations- but he does blush a little when Alfred embraces him tightly before finding clothing.

Matthew pushes at his brother’s shoulder and looks back at Sam. “Sorry about this. The clothes thing is unavoidable.”

But Sam just shakes his head and leaves the room long enough to get a robe, passing it off to Alfred.

“So who is this guy anyways? He helped you? Nice to meet you then- if you helped.” Alfred is relieved, glad to see his brother. “God I was so scared after I found that trap and your blood in the snow.”

“Sam,” Samuel says, and he offers his hand to Alfred. As he shakes, he looks back to Matthew. The expression in his face is hard to read, but then he gives him a barely there smile. “Not ’ _helped_.’ Helping. I want to help you both. I want to help you get safe.”

Matthew’s heart is going a mile a minute, but he eagerly accepts the quiet man’s help.

—

It’d been a long time since Sam thought back to that day, and longer still since he’d had dreams about it. He does prefer when the dream ends there, or when it ends while they prepare to flee from the chasing hunters. After that, the memories become painful for Sam to think of. The hunters had found them first, and Sam had murdered a man just to keep these two poor men with their strange sickness from being executed.

As he tightens his arms around the man lying next to him in bed, Sam knows that he doesn’t regret the act itself so much as the fact he’d killed someone. He’d done it for Matthew- a beautiful wonderful amazing man- and he’d likely do far worse if his love’s life depended on it.

But having blood on your hands is never easy.

Samuel doesn’t want to dwell though. The years had fallen away as they moved about together, trying to find a place to settle, somewhere they could be safe and happy. They had their little ranch now, and it was working out rather splendidly. Shaking off the memories, Sam moves to kiss at Matthew’s neck, hands moving over his body.

Matthew makes a soft sound, and he squirms at the touching. Sam slides one hand up into his partner’s nightshirt to caress his chest and brushes the other along the hem of his night pants. When he just barely pushes his fingertips beneath the fabric, Matthew stirs and turns in his arms.

“Naughty man,” Matthew murmurs without opening his eyes. He’s smiling just a bit, though, and Sam knows he’s probably been awake longer than he let on. “You should kiss me before that kind of thing.”

Sam smiles and lets the other tangle their legs together. Matthew wraps his arms around his shoulders, and Sam leans down to kiss him sweetly.

Yes, Sam would give anything to keep waking up next to this wonderful man every morning of his life.

—

Matthew makes them breakfast, and Sam stays cuddled against his back pretty much the whole time. Sam is a very physical person- especially when they’re alone- and Matthew doesn’t mind all the affection. Sam had given him faith in people during a time when he had very little, and Matthew loves him more than anything. Pretending to be brothers when in front of other people had been difficult, because he’s sure that the way he looks at Sam gives him away so easily. It was why their current little secluded ranch lifestyle suited them so well.

“Should we bring Alfred breakfast too?” Sam asks as he nuzzles his face into his hair. 

They’d chosen to build a second smaller house on the ranch after purchasing it, because Alfred had said he hadn’t wanted to be the third wheel for their honeymoon. Mostly, Matthew thinks Alfred didn’t want to hear them having sex. When you and your brother’s senses are sharper than most humans, even thick walls and quiet voices can’t fully muffle the sound and smell of sex.

This was the best set up for them all for that reason alone.

“I don’t think so,” Matthew says back. “I heard a cart out on the drive just now. I think Ms. Kirkland has come to bring him breakfast.”

“Hmmmm,” Sam replies, sounding unconcerned.

Ever since the initial meeting between Alfred and Tammy, the woman had taken to making social calls. Of course, they’d scolded her- told her they were busy, told her not to show up during working hours. So she’d adapted. She showed up during the early morning before work starts, and in the evening when it was already past time to quit for the night. Only once had she shown up on the night of the full moon, but Sam had hurried her off with stories of Alfred catching a fever.

“You’re not worried about her, are you?” Matthew asks.

Sam shrugs a little before tightening his arms around him, and he kisses his hair. “She’s a good person. Nosy and irritating but not ill-intentioned. She’ll probably lose interest soon and hurry on to the next interesting thing.”

“That’ll break Alfred’s heart,” Matthew says then. “I know he complains about how scandalous she is about her flirting, but he’s really starting to like her.”

“I know,” Sam says. “But we’ve always been okay. We’ll keep our family safe.”

Matthew nods and lets out a low sigh. He certainly hopes so.

The food is finished though, and he’s pulling free of his partner’s arms to bring it to the table. As he does, he thinks about Sam and what he has done for him. About how every full moon, Sam chains him to the wall in their basement to keep him from running amok and creating havoc in the town. But Sam never leaves him on those days. Any sensible person would, but Sam refuses to let him suffer alone.

The last thing Matthew always sees before he transforms into the awful wolfman is his love’s face as he settles into a stool with his fiddle in his hands. Sam would stay with him long past midnight- the most violent and frantic part of the night- and play music. Though Matthew doesn’t ever remember much of being in that form, he does have images- impressions and colors and sounds that don’t always make a coherent whole. He usually wakes up remembering the music, and Sam tells him that the music calms Matthew down when he’s in that form.

Sam is always the first thing Matthew sees when he wakes up from those nights now as well, and the arrangement has been a godsend. He doesn’t wake up with as many bruises and aches from fighting the chains anymore, and he feels safe and settled when he transforms. Sam has equipment- silver and nets and tranquilizing medicines from town- just in case a chain snaps, but they have been careful to never have need of them. Unlike Alfred’s room beneath his house, there’s fewer claw marks in Matthew’s wall from violent struggling.

Matthew wants to give Alfred something like what he has, but that is a hard thing to find. It was too uncertain to risk it- what if they trusted the wrong person, and they found their dear Alfred staked in the chest and beheaded in the morning? He pauses to look out the window toward Tammy’s cart in the drive. When he doesn’t move toward the table, Sam comes to his side to gently take his hand.

“Do you think she could love him?” Matthew asks in a barely audible voice. “Be to him what you are to me?”

Sam squeezes his hand and kisses the top of his head. “We can hope,” Sam says. “But if she’s not, we’ll be there for him.”

Matthew nods and chews at his lip. Despite his worry, he doesn’t dislike Tammy. He’s truly sincerely hoping that she might help his brother, and she’s a nice enough sort of person. He just doesn’t want to see his brother hurt or have their secrets uncovered.

“C’mon, Mattie,” Sam murmurs. “Can’t do anything about it. They have to work it out. Besides, she’ll probably keep him busy for a bit this morning… If we eat quick, we’ll have some time to ourselves.”

Matthew lets his partner distract him. “What’re you implying, hm? I’ve already had some nice time with you this morning~” he says with a smirk. “Were you unsatisfied?”

“I was very satisfied,” Sam says, stealing a kiss after they’re away from the window. “But I’m already hungry again.”

“I’d almost think you’re the wolf in this relationship- with such an insatiable appetite,” Matthew teases back, but they both fall quiet so they can eat and perhaps have more time to share some fevered passionate kisses before their work day starts. 


	3. Chapter 3

The first time he comes by the ranch as Tommy, he’s a mix of excited and nervous. Tommy had been wanting for a while to share more of himself with the mysterious Mr. Jones, and that means sharing his take on gender. He’s hoping to see how long it takes for Alfred to recognize him, because many people have trouble picking out that Tommy and Tammy are the same person on first glance. He’s tied his long hair into a low ponytail at the base of his neck, and he’s wearing a pair of his best pants. He’s left the top of his button up shirt just a bit open to tease his new beau.

It’s a fun game to play to see how long someone will notice.

Recently, Mr. Jones had really been taking quite a shine to Tammy, and while that’s exciting, Tommy can’t truly be with someone if they can’t accept his gender. So, perhaps, today would be a make or break sort of day. Tommy isn’t all too worried about that, because the man is already pretty attached to him. Alfred doesn’t seem the type to cut off someone he likes for being different.

When he shows up, Tommy does as he usually does- lets himself into the house. He heads to the kitchen with a basket of bread, cheese, eggs, and a few slices of bacon. Although he doesn’t always cook breakfast for Alfred, today he wants to make sure he has a surprise to put him in a good mood. He’s a bit confused that Alfred isn’t up and about already though, because Tommy has arrived a little later than usual. By now, Alfred is often up and about, getting ready for the work day. Still, Alfred is terrible at mornings, so Tommy doesn’t dwell on the strangeness of it for long.

Just as he’s set his basket down though, he hears a floorboard creak- just the tiniest sound- before there’s quick movement behind him.

—

Tommy starts to smile and turn to greet Alfred when strong arms lock around him and lift him from the ground. There’s a low deep sort of growl right next to his ear that might have sounded playful if Tommy wasn’t so startled. The attacker is dragging him backwards, and Tommy feels a mouth close to his neck. He feels the slightest teasing hint of teeth, but at this point, Tommy’s self preservation instinct has kicked in rather powerfully.

He elbows the man behind him, and when the man recoils, Tommy slams his head backwards into his attacker’s face. There’s a cry of pain in a very familiar voice, and Tommy whirls around to find Alfred stumbling backwards clutching at his nose and lips. There’s blood dripping down over his fingers, and Tommy gasps. He grips at his chest and tries to breathe normally.

“Jeez Tammy,” Alfred says then. “I was just playin!”

Tommy hurries to pull out a handkerchief, and he comes forward to push Alfred’s hands aside to see what’s going on. Alfred’s nose might be hurting, but there’s no break or blood coming from it. His lip is busted, though, and he winces- that’s never fun. Tommy presses the cloth to his mouth and takes a step back, sighing in relief that the damage wasn’t long lasting.  

“You scared me! That happens when you scare someone!”

Alfred pouts just a bit and leans against the table. He’s distracted rather quickly though, and his eyes slide up Tommy’s body. There’s confusion in his eyes and sniffs lightly at the air.

“Tammy?” he asks then, clearly confused. He sniffs at the air again, and before Tommy can answer, he shrugs lightly. “You’re dressed pretty boyish today. Gonna come help us out on the ranch?”

Tommy rolls his eyes and pushes a stray lock of hair back behind his ear. “No, it’s just that I’m a boy today. Some days I wake up and I’m a boy. Other days, I’m a girl. I’d prefer being called Tommy, when I’m dressed like this.”

Alfred looks surprised for a moment. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a thing…”

His eyes travel over his body again, and Tommy, perhaps sensing the next question, intervenes. “My body stays the same of course. Just the way I feel about it is different.” Tommy winks flirtatiously and steps toward him. “If you have any particular questions about my body, though, I’m afraid I only answer those in bed~”

Alfred reacts just the way Tommy expects to that- a deep blush and a scandalized expression. Tommy loves seeing Alfred make that face.

“Don’t be dirty, now,” Alfred says. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. What’d you call this… gender thing huh?”  

Tommy sees he’s confused, but Alfred doesn’t seem to be judging him– a good place to start. Tommy steps up close and runs his hand up along Alfred’s arm. “I just like to say I’m flexible with gender~ To have never heard of this, you’re sure taking it well.”

“Well it’s certainly not the strangest thing I’ve heard of,” he says, and he flashes that sunshine smile. “’Sides, you look pretty good like this too.”

As often as Alfred says he’s uninterested in romance or bad at flirting, he’s certainly adept at making Tommy blush. Tommy’s heart is beating a mile a minute as he leans up to kiss Alfred’s cheek.   
“Guess I can forgive you for scaring me in that case,” Tommy says.

Alfred rubs a bit more blood from his lip- it’s mostly not bleeding now. In fact, it’s healed up rather quickly, and it doesn’t seem nearly so bad as it had to begin with.

“You needed a reason to forgive me?” Alfred follows Tommy over to the kitchen counter. “Do I need a reason to forgive you for bustin’ my  mouth then?”

“You do have one~” Tommy says. “I’m making you breakfast.”

Alfred grins and looks excited almost instantly. “Perfectly good reason.”

—

Though the whole double gender thing is strange, Alfred figures he doesn’t really have room to judge. He’s a wolf part of the time, and changing gender is a lot more reasonable to him than fully changing species. He had made a bit of a kneejerk mistake when he was confused that morning though. Change of gender or not, Tommy still has the same scent, so while the presentation is different, Alfred could still smell that it was the person he’d gotten to know over the past couple of months.

In his confusion over the change in presentation, though, he’d sniffed at the air like an animal trying to figure out why the smell was the same if it was a different person. In all his time with heightened senses, he’d never met people with the exact same smell. Scents could be similar among family and siblings but there was always something to make it unique to that person.

 It wasn’t like he meant to confirm the scent by sniffing at the air, but he had. He hadn’t thought that Tommy had noticed particularly but as they’re eating, Tommy brings it up. 

“So why’d you sniff the air when you were confused about who I was huh? Do I smell normally?" 

Alfred tries not to look too guilty but at least a lie comes to him quickly- not even that much of a lie. "You always wear perfume in your hair,” he mumbles, looking away. “And I figured that if it was you, I could smell it." 

Tommy actually blushes at this- not what Alfred is expecting- and he looks happy. "So you do notice things like that… I wondered if you actually took notice of how much time I take getting ready to see you~" 

"Of course I notice,” Alfred says, brows pinching together just a bit. “I think it smells real nice. I’m not dumb you know." 

"I’ll keep that in mind,” Tommy says, playing with a strand of his hair. 

As they finish eating, Alfred catches himself admiring Tommy’s face. He really is an attractive person, and the way that he emotes and expresses himself changes just a bit when he’s presenting this way. Alfred is very quickly finding that he likes the differences, Once he’s adjusted to the changes, it’s clear that they’re the same person- not two separate identities like Alfred’s own ‘change’ often feels like. 

As they’re putting the dishes away, Alfred is studying his face again, and he says the first thing that comes into his mind- never a great idea. “I feel like I’m seeing you for the first time.” Tommy’s expression changes into something conflicted, distressed, and Alfred starts again, “I mean not cause you’re more 'you’ this way or anything. But like… now I see, I dunno, more of you. I see the full picture. I feel like I didn’t before- There was all that fake flirtatious stuff.” Alfred shrugs. “I dunno… recently you seem more honest.”

At his elaboration, Tommy actually turns a rather deep shade of red, and he pushes at his shoulder. “You can’t just say things like that! It’s embarrassing!” But then he flashes the most earnest smile that Alfred has ever seen from him- no arrogance or smirking or flirtatious ridiculousness. “You really are something else.”

Tommy moves suddenly, embracing him and pressing his face against Alfred’s shoulder. After a moment of hesitation, Alfred softens and pulls him in close, rubbing his back. They stand close, and Alfred nuzzles his face into his hair.

“All that flirtatious stuff,” Tommy admits quietly, “wasn’t fake though- not really. I just… come on a bit strong when I like someone.”

A ‘bit strong’ seems like an understatement to Alfred, but he doesn’t say as much. Instead he just rubs his back and takes a breath, cheeks getting warm. “That sounds like a confession, Mr. Kirkland.”

Tommy does pull back then to look up into his face. “Hardly a confession when you already know how interested I am in you?” Now he does grin, a naughty sort of expression as he reaches up to tangle his fingers into Alfred’s hair. “But if it were a confession, how exactly would you respond?”

Despite his red cheeks, Alfred leans in closer, and he looks into Tommy’s eyes. “Well, I’m clearly not saying no…” Then he grins as well and just barely brushes their lips together.

At first the kiss is sweet and gentle, but as always Tommy is an impatient excitable person. He pins Alfred back against the counter and deepens the kiss. Far from complaining, Alfred matches the shorter man’s passion, arms tightening around his waist and dragging him in close and tight. Then Alfred hears footsteps just outside the house, and he breaks free from Tommy. He steps away and they’re both panting softly when the door comes open. Alfred pretends to be busy putting dishes away as Sam enters the kitchen. He takes one look at the two of them and his eyebrow goes up practically to his hairline.

“Finally came by as a man,” Sam says after a minute- he’d seen the other’s different gender presentations in town so this isn’t surprising for him. “I wondered when you would. Alfred, we need to get started.”

“Get started on what?” Tommy asks, fingers coming up to lightly slide over his lips. 

Alfred blushes darker- could Tommy be any more obvious about what Sam had interrupted?

“Shearing,” Alfred says. “We’re shearing the sheep today. Not gonna be any fun.” Then he pauses and looks over at Tommy. “But if you wanna come watch, it’s pretty funny.”

Sam gives Alfred a look, but Alfred misses it completely. Tommy is already nodding and grinning. 

“Sure! I’d like to see how effective a worker you are~”

—

Sam watches Tommy walk next to Alfred, and it’s clear from both their postures that they’d like to be holding hands or walking arm in arm. They don’t though, and Sam rolls his eyes at how they dither. It was cute but perhaps a bit immature. He hadn’t had time to run ahead to warn Matthew, but the other is already in wolf form, herding the sheep in toward the pens. Sam hurries forward to open the gate and help him herd the sheep forward.

“Oh a dog!” Tommy blinks. “A big dog, damn, he’s practically a wolf.”

“A mix,” Alfred says, and Sam detects a hint of unease in his voice. “He stays with Mattie and Sam mostly. Guess this is your first time seeing him huh?”

“Yeah! Can I pet him?” Tommy is already approaching him after they get the gate to the pen closed. He reaches down and pets the wolf behind the ears and strokes his chin.

The wolf looks a bit long suffering, but Matthew tries to play the part. He lets his tongue loll out the side of his mouth and he leans into Tommy’s hand. Sam chuckles to himself, and he whistles quietly. 

“Alright enough. Let’s go find your Papa and get you some food for your hard work.”

The wolf trots over to Sam’s side, and he walks back toward the house with him. He knows that while Matthew does enjoy petting in this form, he’s partial about who is doing the petting. So he does look a tad bit grumpy as they walk back. He leans a bit against Sam’s legs when they get to the house, and he shuts the door. The wolf changes into Matthew, expression huffy.

“You should’ve told Tammy I didn’t like petting,” he says, moving to put his clothes on. “I hate having to do the whole docile dog thing.”

“It was cute,” Sam replies. “And Tammy likes to be called Tommy dressed like that. Some gender flexible thing, he says.”

“I wondered,” he says as he buttons his shirt up. “I could tell it was Tammy, but I’ve never seen her dress that way. Why is he sticking around though?”

Sam sighs and moves to look out the window facing the corrals. He can see Alfred explaining things to Tommy and showing him the equipment. 

“Alfred is in pretty deep now… I caught them kissing in the kitchen earlier.”

Matthew joins him at the window, and he lets out a long low sigh. “Yeah I thought that might be it. I hope this ends well. It’d break Alfred’s heart- and our happy life here- if Tommy finds out or reacts badly.”

“Perhaps we should encourage him to come clean about it before he finds out by accident. A controlled admittance is better than him catching one of you transforming.”

Sam looks down at Matthew, and he gives him a small but encouraging smile. Alfred revealing himself also means revealing Matthew as well, and this is a secret neither of them have told many people. Sam knows how big a risk that is for them both, and he knows how big a thing he’s advising his partner to allow.

“Yeah,” Matthew says, looking uncertain. “You’re right. I think… I think he loves him. If it was a passing fancy or something, I’d never endanger us for that but… he’s in love. I know he deserves a shot at happiness like the kind I got.”

“I agree,” Sam says softly back, squeezing Matthew’s hand. “You can tell him that we approve.”

—

It’s almost the hottest part of summer when Alfred finally takes up the other men’s advice about just telling Tammy his secret. He’d invited her out for a picnic out in a nice field of flowers, and they’d had a lovely time of things. They’d flirted and kissed and carried on like Alfred thinks sweethearts should- intimate but not too sexual.

Then he brings her back to his sitting room. He figured she should be somewhere she felt safe, close to her ‘getaway’ vehicle, if she ended up being scared of him. As she sits down, she watches him with curious eyes.

“You aren’t coming out to me are you?” she teases lightly, smirking. “I’m not sure what I would do if I found out you were queer.”

Alfred shakes his head at her teasing, and he smiles. “You’re not being serious. This is… hard to believe, so you’re gonna have to give me a minute.” After a minute he sits down. “You know, you change between genders and all… right?”

“Yeah,” Tammy says, leaning toward him to hold his hand. “What about it?”

“I… have another side too. A change of my own.”

Tammy perks up then and furrows her brow. “What? You change between genders too?”

She seems confused, rightly so, because he’s never mentioned anything like that. For her, she can’t quite imagine what he means.

He shakes his head. “No, not genders. Something a little, uh, different.”   
“Out with it then,” Tammy says, pouting. “The curiosity is killing me.”

Alfred takes a deep breath, and finally he spits it out. “I can change species,” he says quickly. “I can turn into a wolf if I want to.”

Tammy laughs first then her expression changes to one of hurt and she lets go of his hand. “You’re making fun of me aren’t you? Joking like that? You’re trying to make me feel ridiculous!” 

The hurt in her expression backpedaling. “No of course not, just… just… close your eyes. I’ll show you.”

“How is it showing me if my eyes are closed?”

“Cause I have to take my clothes off first! I don’t want you to watch!”

Tammy stands up, looking confused and a bit angry. “If you want an excuse to take your clothes off around me, this is a poor one.”

Alfred grabs her hands, and he looks into her eyes pleadingly. “Give me a chance. Just trust me for a minute okay…?”

She stares into his face, looking uncertain and upset. After a moment of dithering and chewing her lip, she finally nods. “Alright. I do trust you Alfred, but you’re not making sense.”

“Thank you!” He leans in and kisses her on the lips sweetly. “Cover your eyes for a minute.”

—

Tammy peaks at Alfred as he takes his clothing off- she can’t help it. The curiosity is a bit too much for her. She still feels like she’s being teased though, and that’s not a way that anyone wants to feel. Why he’d tease her about something that was so important to her- and already so controversial in general- escapes her.

It’s because she peaks that she sees the change start. Barely having time to admire his lovely body, he’s soon fallen forward onto all fours into the biggest wolf she’d ever seen. She gasps in shock and recoils back, leg hitting the couch and almost falling over. As she steadies herself, she looks down at the pile of clothes on the floor and the rather large animal looking up at her.

A few things become obviously pretty much immediately- this wolf is quite large enough to hurt her rather badly if it wanted to, and the distance between them means she couldn’t escape quick enough even if she tried. It simply sits down though and blinks up at her, docile and sweet as anything. She looks into its eyes and sees that they’re the same bright sky blue as Alfred’s.

“Alfred…??” she says hesitantly. The wolf responds instantly, ears perking up and head tilting sideways. His tail starts to wag as well. “Alfred! What the hell?”

Then she begins to laugh and she leans down, cautiously offering the wolf her hand. He trots forward and rubs his face against her fingers. She can’t help but giggle again. “I swear this is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.” Her tone isn’t unkind though, and the wolf seems to take that as invitation. He moves forward, nudging his face in against her knees.

Tammy laughs again and starts to scratch behind his ears and rub beneath his ears. For a few moments it’s actually quite nice. Tammy isn’t a big fan of dogs in general but she does like to pet them. So she leans down and strokes his fur and scratches his chin.

Then Alfred-the-wolf gets too excited and spoils it. He starts to lick at her hands then at her face. She jerks away, making a little distressed sound- that’s why she doesn’t like dogs. They lick you when they’re happy. Tammy doesn’t like having dog slobber on her. Well, wolf slobber in this case, but she still doesn’t like it. 

“No no no! No licking!” She stands up quickly and takes a step back, pulling out a handkerchief.

Alfred takes two steps back, pointed ears flattening back against his head as he whimpers quietly. It almost makes her feel bad about reacting that way, but the wolf’s form shifts again. After a minute, Alfred is sitting on the floor, nude, and covering himself with a pillow.   
“Sorry,” he says, cheeks hot and expression a bit ashamed. “In that form, when I get excited, it’s a bit hard to control my urges. Getting petted like that is really nice.”

Tammy leans down again to sit next to him on the floor. He’s carefully pulling his clothes back on now in such a way to hide his private bits from her. She gets a good look at his chest, arms, and legs though before he’s wiggled his way back into his clothes. For a long moment, they’re quiet, and Tammy is trying to wrap her mind around things.

Though there’s a part of her that says she should be frightened- witchcraft, demon possession, evil ancient magic all seem to be likely reasons for this- she steadies herself and thinks it over. Does this really make her think any differently of the sweet blue eyed rancher that she’d gotten so close to?

Not really, she decides. Not at all.

“So you weren’t kidding.” She leans against his arm when he’s clothed again “How can you do that??”

“I got bit by something, me and Mattie both. It had strange consequences. We got this… this sickness.” He wraps his arm around her and tugs her in close. “I’m not contagious except for once a month…”

His voice is so full of dread now that she has to turn to look up at him. “What’s so bad about that? Once a month doesn’t seem like that much.”

“Cause,” he says back. “I turn into something else… something more dangerous. There’s a reason that we seclude ourselves out here.”   

Tammy arches a brow. “So finally the reason you’re so secluded comes out. I had come to the conclusion it was just Sam and Mattie hiding how gay they are.”

This surprises Alfred and he turns to Tammy, brows raised. “You knew ??”

“Alfred,” Tammy replies, expression rather deadpan. “I only had to see them together three times before I was sure they were sleeping together. All this brother nonsense is a cover.” Then she pauses… “Unless they’re gay and brothers and together. That’s a lot more scandal than even I could manage.”

“No no, Matthew’s my brother. Sam is his husband- in the, you know, ways that count. Not legally or anything.”

Tammy smiles at this and looks over at him. “Yes, I always figured that’s why you were hiding away. You and your little gay family. Even if you hadn’t ended up wrapped around my finger,” here she pauses to kiss his cheek. “I doubt you could’ve kept me away.”

“Is that how it is?” He laughs and pulls her into his lap, holding her close.

Tammy just enjoys the moment and nestles in close. She strokes her fingers up along his chest and then she looks up into his face to talk tho him a bit more about his 'condition’.  

“So this sickness and it’s once a month consequence… That’s why you seclude yourself?”

Alfred nods and gives her a little smile. “Yeah, that’s about it.”

“And you become dangerous,” Tammy says slowly before asking, “Have you hurt people before?”

“I…” Alfred looks away from her, chewing his lip. “I have…I can’t control it. I don’t remember anything, but I become something monstrous. Like the thing that attacked me and my brother.”

His voice is barely there, but Tammy can see the hurt and distress in his expression. She takes a breath, and she touches his face, lifting his eyes to hers.  

“You feel guilty and ashamed of those things… It makes sense, but you know it doesn’t change the kind of person you are the rest of the month right? You’re a good man, and it seems to me like you’re doing quite a lot given the circumstances.”

Alfred looks into her eyes, and though there’s still pain in his expression, he softens. “Miss Kirkland, you’re quite a charmer sometimes.”

She taps his nose and says, “I’m quite a charmer all the time, Mr. Jones.” Then she leans in to kiss his lips and after she murmurs softly, “I still love you. Even if you’re a dog sometimes.”

Alfred reacts just as childishly as she had hoped he would, and so the serious conversation is lost in a bout of playful fighting. 


End file.
